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Mexico2 dive sites
The Sea of Cortez is at its best from August to November, with water at 27 to 29 °C from August to October. In winter, the water drops to 20 °C, but whale sharks visit the Bay of La Paz. Los Islotes closes to swimming from June to the end of August, during the sea lion breeding season.
In La Paz, a two-dive day at Espíritu Santo costs US$190, park fees and lunch included, and US$225 for the hammerheads of El Bajo. At Cabo Pulmo, two dives come to MXN 2,800, with MXN 120 of park fees per day on top.
La Paz has its own airport and is two hours by road from Los Cabos. Cabo Pulmo is 100 km north of Cabo San Lucas, on a road that ends in a dirt track: leave with a full tank and pesos. French citizens enter without a visa, but a US transit requires an ESTA.
MexicoReefCabo Pulmo is the only coral reef in the Sea of Cortez, made a national park in 1995 at the request of the village fishermen.
MexicoReefLos Islotes are two islets north of Espíritu Santo, 45 minutes by boat from La Paz, home to some 300 California sea lions.
Between the Baja California peninsula and the mainland, the Sea of Cortez, or Gulf of California, mixes the temperate waters of the North Pacific with tropical marine life: California sea lions, schools of jacks and snappers, mobulas, hammerheads offshore, whale sharks in the Bay of La Paz in winter, humpback whales and sometimes orcas. The gulf's islands and protected areas have been a World Heritage Site since 2005. You have two bases: La Paz in the north, and Cabo Pulmo, on the east coast of the southern tip.
The Los Islotes islets, north of Espíritu Santo and 45 minutes by panga from La Paz, are home to a colony of some 300 California sea lions. The pups come and nibble divers' fins between 5 and 15 meters: it is the easiest and most fun dive in the region. The site closes to swimming from June to the end of August, during the breeding season, when the males turn territorial. Two dives at Espíritu Santo cost US$190 at La Paz Divers, park fees included. El Bajo and La Reina, for the hammerheads, cost US$225.
Cabo Pulmo National Park, 100 kilometers north of Cabo San Lucas, was created in 1995 at the request of the village's fishing families. It protects a 20,000-year-old coral reef, the northernmost in the eastern Pacific. In fifteen years without fishing, the fish biomass rose by 462%: tornadoes of jacks, groupers, and bull sharks on the El Vencedor wreck. Two panga dives cost MXN 2,800 at Cabo Pulmo Dive Center, with MXN 120 of park fees per day on top.
The water drops to 20 °C in winter, sometimes lower, and visibility falls with the plankton. It climbs back to 27 to 29 °C from August to October, and August to November brings the best visibility and the most varied marine life. Whale sharks visit the Bay of La Paz in season. The Rocio del Mar and Quino del Mar liveaboards head up to the islands of the northern gulf in summer.
Hotels, apartments and rooms around Cabo Pulmo, the starting point for dives at the Cabo Pulmo reef, with current prices.